According to the statistics, the number of local development applications (of 49 homes or fewer) was 17,425 in 2024/25 compared to 21,897 in 2020/21. The percentage decided in two months decreased from 67.8% in 2020/21 to 62.9% in 2024/25.

The average processing timeframe also remains more than twice the statutory eight weeks at nearly five months.

HFS director of planning Kevin Murphy highlighted the impact such statistics are having on Scotland’s SME home builders, the number of which is now at a 20-year low.

“Whilst it is encouraging to see an increase in the number of major housing applications being processed and their average decision timescales decreasing, they still far exceed the statutory timeframe of 16 weeks,” he said. “More concerning, however, is the fact that local housing applications (49 homes or less) have decreased for the fourth year in a row whilst average decision timeframes for these sites have continued to increase against their statutory benchmark of 8 weeks.

“These performance statistics for local housing applications highlight the constrained operating environment our SME home builders are facing when trying to be bring forward the homes of all-tenures the country so desperately needs to tackle the housing emergency, particularly in rural communities where we know they are most active.

“With independent research already showing that SME home builders are at their lowest level in Scotland, with a 70% reduction since 2008 we need to see concerted effort across both national and local governments to speed up and make the planning process more proportionate for SMEs.

With the cabinet secretary for housing committing to an ambition to see all-tenure housing completions increase 10% year on year over the next three years, we now need to see pace and urgency taken to alleviate the regulatory blockers that exist within our planning system.

“With the Scottish Budget approaching in January 2026, the sector needs to see clear financial backing for local planning authorities to increase resource and capacity, as well as ensuring the local and national planning digitisation budgets are increased to invest in digital solutions to help increase productivity.”

For major development applications, there were 169 decided in 2024/25 compared to 171 in 2020/21. In 2024/25, the average decision time for these applications was 37.4 weeks, taking less time than in 2020/21 (41.3 weeks).

However, in 2024/25, the number of major applications without processing agreements (169) increased from 120 in the previous year.